New Midwest Council officers

Congratulations to the newly elected Council officers in Wichita. They are all Council Reps who stepped up for SPEEA.

Mark Gayer, chair, is a former member of
the Wichita Technical and Professional Unit
(WTPU) Contract Negotiating Team and
continues to serve as SPEEA liaison to
the ICT-SOS Race for Freedom to end
human trafficking. He’s also involved in
other SPEEA-community events such as
the Veterans Day parade, bowling with
Santa and other activities.

When asked why he took the next step to
become Council chair, he replied: “I truly
believe Spirit and SPEEA are at a crossroads.
I would like to help find some common
ground and expand on those areas.”

Matthew Joyce, treasurer, is also chair
of the Midwest Legislative and Public
Affairs Committee, chair of the Wichita
Engineering Unit (WEU) bargaining unit
council and member of several past WEU
contract negotiations teams. He’s also serving as IFPTE Central states vice president,
president of the Derby School Board and is
a mentor for robotics competitions.

His emphasis is on growing the membership. “There is strength in numbers,” he
noted.

Jo Miklos, secretary,also serves in several
community leadership positions, including
the president of the Good Neighbor Fund
at Spirit AeroSystems, chair of the Spirit
of the Harvest (annual fundraiser for the
Kansas food bank) and the Community
Partnership Network.

She stepped up to give back for the help
she’s received in the past. “SPEEA is there
for the good of the people, like the food
bank or Salvation Army. The union helps.”

Ask questions and get specificto ‘exceed expectations’

As a former Boeing engineer, SPEEA Contract Administrator Steve Spyridis knows what it’s like to go through the
Performance Management (PM) process.

“I used to hate doing it,” he said during a recent
PM close-out training at SPEEA headquarters.
“I thought it was a waste of time, but I wasn’t
asking the right questions.”
Comparing PM to learning the game of chess,
Spyridis noted how everyone can gain more from
the process if they understand the way it works.
“Once you learn the rules, you can strategize.”
He urges everyone to talk with their manager
about each performance value and business goal
and objective (BG&O) on their PM to make
sure they understand what the manager expects
to achieve a better score.

Document the PM discussion at every phase and
then ask the manager to validate what you wrote to
ensure you both agree. There should be no assumptions when it comes to PMs.

“You’re the one running it – guide the conver-sation,” he said. “Ask as many questions as youcan, and make sure you understand the answers.”If you need more time, schedule a follow-up meet-ing. “It’s about having an agreementwith your manager – you need toknow where the bar is set.”Spyridis also noted how the PM pro-cess affects retention ratings. YourPM score is 40% of your retentionrating. The other 60% comes from competenciesfor your job classification and level. Talk to yourmanager during the PM process about each com-petency. Get specific on what it takes to achieve ahigher ranking (such as ‘far exceeds expectations’).

After working hundreds of retention appeals
over the years as a SPEEA contract administrator, Spyridis sees firsthand how a better understanding of the PM process could help.